Public Education Foundation calls for Chattanooga businesses to hire low-income students for internships

R.T. Rybak, Executive Director of Generation Next and former Mayor of Minneapolis addresses the crowd at the Step Up Kickoff that was held at the Blue Cross Blue Sheild campus on January 6, 20216.
R.T. Rybak, Executive Director of Generation Next and former Mayor of Minneapolis addresses the crowd at the Step Up Kickoff that was held at the Blue Cross Blue Sheild campus on January 6, 20216.
photo Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Bill Kilbride and Chattanooga Mayor Andy Burke listen to the Public Education Foundation's Stacy Lightfoot at the Step-Up Chattanooga kickoff that was held at Blue Cross Blue Shield campus on Jan. 6, 2016.

Step-Up

Who can apply: Hamilton County 10th-, 11th- and 12th-graders who are eligible for the free and reduced-price lunch program.How to apply: Go to StepUpChattanooga.org to fill out an application.Questions: Contact Janice Neal at 423-668-2423.Deadline: Feb. 18 at 5 p.m.

The Public Education Foundation challenged local businesses on Wednesday to be a part of the solution to connect low-income teens to employment and strengthen the local workforce.

Backed with a $500,000 investment and support from city and Hamilton County leaders, PEF enrolled in Step-Up Chattanooga, an initiative to train Hamilton County juniors and seniors and then send them to businesses for paid summer internships. But PEF officials said it needs businesses who will commit to hire at least one of 100 students this summer.

"It's not expensive. It's not charity," Chamber of Commerce President Bill Kilbride told a group of business leaders. "It's about maintaining your business and doing what's right for your workforce."

In a recent report called Chattanooga 2.0, the Chamber of Commerce estimates there are now 15,000 jobs in Hamilton County that can't be filled by county residents based on education requirements. And officials found only 35 percent of local graduates earn any post-secondary credentials within six years, making them unqualified for most jobs coming to the city.

Local leaders sent the message to businesses that it is no longer an option to leave the solution up to the schools. Businesses will have to take a leadership role.

"The imperative for education has always been here. Now there is a business imperative," said Stacy Lightfoot, PEF's vice president of college and career success.

Step-Up is modeled after Minneapolis' program that has seen success over more than a decade of training and connecting 21,000 students to summer jobs.

The program also trains company contacts to handle the learning curve of students with backgrounds in poverty and coach the students along the way.

Minneapolis' former mayor, R.T. Rybak, told Chattanooga business leaders to think of the program as a way to train the next generation to replace themselves. And if they need another reason, he introduced Anndrea Young, a 21-year-old senior at Tennessee State University.

Young told the crowd she was the oldest of five siblings, and after she spent two summers in Step-Up internships at a radio station and Wells Fargo, she became the first person in her family to go to college.

"I was able to push myself further than anyone in my family or the people around me," said Young, who now plans to start her own business.

Contact staff writer Joy Lukachick Smith at jsmith@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.

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